Releasable tie

ABSTRACT

A reusable and adjustable tie with a handle, a shaft, and a locking head for securing objects together, the shaft and the locking head having locking elements complementary to each other The tie works by looping the shaft of the tie around at least one object to be secured, passing the handle through the locking head of the tie, flipping the handle to a position perpendicular to the end of the shaft, and pulling on the handle to tighten the loop around the object, and rotating the shaft as necessary to secure the locking elements of the shaft within the locking elements of the locking head. The locking elements of the shaft are released from the locking elements of the locking head by pulling on the handle, rotating the handle as necessary, and pushing or pulling the shaft through the locking head. A sharp edge may also be incorporated into the tie to sever the shaft if it is desired to leave the loop permanently secured. Likewise, the handle for the tie can be detachable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] A variety of methods of securing objects together exist, fromsimple methods involving cord and knots to more sophisticated methodsinvolving a variety of devices that eliminate the problems associatedwith tying or taping objects together.

[0002] Many ties are single-use only. They are capable of beingtightened but not loosened. If the objects need to be separated lateron, such devices must be cut off. Alternatively, if further objects needto be added, a new device will also be necessary because the used devicewill be too small to accommodate the extra object(s).

[0003] There are also releasable ties, some of which make use of alocking head and function on the principle of a ratchet and pawl. Thesedevices are capable of securing a set of objects together, but typicallyinvolve some moving part that can break off with repeated use. Likewise,manipulation of the gripping means can be difficult when the device isunder tension. Others may be more easily manipulated but require aseries of back and forth movements to tighten or loosen the strap.Furthermore, such releasable ties typically involve locking devices thathold at a single point or to a single projection or extension of thetie. Under sufficient tension, such ties may deform and slip, causingthe bundle to loosen and may lead to the separation of its contents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] What is needed is a releasable tie that can be easily adjustedwith a minimum of manipulations, even under tension, with a lockingdevice that holds at more than one point to reduce the likelihood thatthe tie will slip under tension.

[0005] There is therefore provided in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention, a releasable tie comprising:

[0006] a shaft terminating in a locking head at one end and capable ofbeing passed through the locking head at its other end;

[0007] the shaft having a plurality of a first locking element locatedalong at least a portion of its length;

[0008] the locking head having an internal bore defined by an encirclingwall, the encircling wall having at least a second locking element onthe encircling wall;

[0009] one of the first locking element and the second locking elementbeing a pocket having side walls for receiving the other of the firstlocking element and the second locking element;

[0010] the other of the first locking element and the second lockingelement being a barb to be received by the pocket;

[0011] the shaft being prevented from rotation by location of the barbin the pocket;

[0012] the pocket being oriented to prevent the shaft moving through thelocking head under tensional forces on the shaft when the barb isreceived by the pocket; and

[0013] the shaft being releasable from the locking head by removing thebarb from the pocket by pulling on the shaft, twisting the shaft andallowing the shaft to slide through the locking head.

[0014] The object of the present invention is to provide a one-pieceadjustable and releasable tie that can be easily and precisely adjustedunder tension.

[0015] A further object of the invention is to provide a tie that lockssecurely into place when under tension and is not prone to releasingprematurely.

[0016] A further object of the invention is to provide a handle thatallows the tie to be grasped more easily in making adjustments.

[0017] A further object is to provide a tie that can be severed at itsend to be left permanently in place if so desired.

[0018] These and other aspects of the invention are described in thedetailed description of the invention and claimed in the claims thatfollow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] There will now be described preferred embodiments of theinvention, with reference to the drawings, by way of illustration onlyand not with the intention of limiting the scope of the invention, inwhich like numerals denote like elements and in which:

[0020]FIG. 1 shows a schematic of the releasable tie;

[0021]FIG. 2 shows a side-view cross section of the handle and shaft;

[0022]FIG. 3 shows a side-view cross section of the shaft in the lockinghead;

[0023]FIG. 4 shows a top plan view of the locking head;

[0024] FIGS. 5A-5D show a side view of various possible depressionshapes of the pockets at 90° to the view in FIG. 3;

[0025]FIG. 6 shows a transverse cross-section view of the shaft;

[0026]FIG. 7 shows a side-view of the shaft with one possible shape ofthe barbs corresponding to the pocket shape in FIG. 5A; and

[0027]FIG. 8 shows a side-view cross section of an alternativeembodiment of the shaft in the locking head for a tie with compressiblebarbs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0028] In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in itsnon-limiting sense to mean that items following the word in the sentenceare included and that items not specifically mentioned are not excluded.The use of the indefinite article “a” in the claims before an elementmeans that one of the elements is specified, but does not specificallyexclude others of the elements being present, unless the context clearlyrequires that there be one and only one of the elements.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 1, the releasable tie comprises a handle 10, ashaft 12, and a locking head 14. The handle, as shown in FIG. 2,comprises a handle bar 16 on a pivot 18 set into the shaft 12. Thehandle bar 16 passes through the locking head 14 and is then flipped toan open position perpendicular to the shaft 12, allowing it to begrasped in order to manipulate the shaft 12 within the locking head 14through pulling, pushing, and/or rotating the handle bar 16. The handlebar 16 also has the added benefit when left in the open position ofproviding a gripping means for carrying the secured object or objectsThe handle bar 16 can be any length but is preferably of a lengthsufficient to be grasped easily by the user of the tie. The handle 10could also be separate from the tie and attached to it with any of avariety of attachment means. However, a tie of unitary construction ispreferred to one requiring multiple parts.

[0030] When the shaft 12 enters the locking head 14 as in FIG. 3, thebarbs 20 of the shaft 12 engage in the pockets 24 located on theencircling wall of the bore 22 of the locking head 14. FIG. 4 shows atop plan view of the locking head 14 with bore 22. The pocket 24 ispreferably shaped sloping from its edges to a depression 25 in itscenter to receive the barb 20 between its two sides and the pockets 24are distributed around the encircling wall 21 of the bore 22complementarily to the barbs 20. A sharp edge 26 may be used to severthe shaft 12 if it is desired to leave the loop permanently secure.FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C and 5D show the pockets 20 at a view 90° to the view inFIG. 3. While the preferred shape of the pocket is sloped towards themiddle in a V-shaped or curved manner, other possible shapes arepossible, such as trapezoidal as in FIG. 5C or even rectangular as inFIG. 5D. The important feature is that the pocket has sides to preventrotation of the shaft in the locking head when the shaft is undertension. As such, even a hook and eye arrangement would work for thepurposes of this invention.

[0031] Equally important in preventing slipping of the shaft 12 is thelocation of more than one locking element along the length of theencircling wall of the bore 22. While one locking element is sufficientfor the purposes of this invention, it is preferable to have two or moresets of locking elements along the length of the encircling wall 21 ofthe bore 22. The additional locking elements will permit a greaternumber of points of contact between the shaft 12 and the locking head14, thus reducing the possibility that slipping of the shaft 12 willoccur when the shaft 12 is under tension.

[0032] The barbs 20 of the shaft 12 are preferably spaced evenly aroundits circumference. FIG. 6A shows a transverse cross-section of the shaft12 with the barbs 20 protruding out from the sides. The shaft 12 can beany shape, but is preferably round. Two barbs 20 are shown, but therecould be only one or three or more. If the barbs 20 are in sets of twoevenly spaced around the circumference of the shaft 12, then the shaft12 can move freely by being rotated roughly 90° from a locked position.Likewise, if the barbs 20 are in sets of three spaced evenly around thecircumference of the shaft 12, then free movement can be achieved byrotating the shaft 12 roughly 60° from a locked position. The degree ofrotation required will be dependent on the number of barbs 20 per set,and their manner of spacing around the circumference of the shaft 12.The barbs 20 extend along the length of the shaft 12 for at least auseful portion of the shaft. As shown in FIG. 7 the barb 20 can be anyshape, but is preferably V-shaped or curved or otherwise tapered in suchmanner as to be wider at the top than at the bottom.

[0033] It should be noted that although the figures show and thedescription refers to barbs 20 on the shaft 12 and pockets 24 on theencircling wall 21 of the bore 22 of the locking head 14, it is just aspossible to have the barbs occur on the encircling wall of the bore ofthe locking head and to have the pockets occur on the shaft. The shapeand arrangement of the two locking elements and their location on theshaft 12 or on the encircling wall 21 of the bore 22 of the locking head14 is less important than that the two locking elements arecomplementary to each other so that whichever type happens to be on theshaft 12 will be complemented by its counterpart on the encircling wall21 of the bore 22 of the locking head 14.

[0034] The tie can be made out of any suitable, flexible material, suchas plastic or metal, that will allow for the tie to loop around theobjects to be secured. Likewise, it can be made in a variety of lengthsand sizes to respond to different securing requirements.

[0035] The tie works as follows. The loop of the shaft 12 is placedaround an object or objects 15 to be secured and the handle 10 isinserted through the locking head 14 with the barbs 20 moving throughthe bore 22 in the areas between the pockets 24, Once through thelocking head 14, the handle 10 is rotated sufficiently (90° if there aretwo barbs/pockets per circumference, 60° if there are threebarbs/pockets per circumference, etc.) so that the barbs 20 may fallback and settle into the pockets 24, thus being locked securely intoplace by the tensional forces acting on the shaft 12 and prevented fromrotating by the sides of the pocket 24. The shaft 12 may be released bypulling up on the handle 10, rotating the required amount, and pushingor pulling the shaft 12 through the bore 22.

[0036] In an alternative embodiment, the barbs 20 are made in such a waythat they can be squeezed between the pockets 24, as in FIG. 8. If thebarbs 20 have squeezed through the bore 22 between the pockets 24, thenthe locking mechanism will engage upon release of the pulling force asthe barbs 20 no longer being compressed by the pockets 24 ease back intothe pockets 24, thus being locked securely into place by the tensionalforces acting on the shaft 12 and prevented from rotating by the sidesof the pocket 24. The shaft 12 may be released by pulling up on thehandle 10, rotating the required amount, and pushing or pulling theshaft 12 through the bore 22.

[0037] A person skilled in the art could make immaterial modificationsto the invention described in this patent document without departingfrom the essence of the invention that is intended to be covered by thescope of the claims that follow.

I claim:
 1. A tie, comprising; a shaft terminating in a locking head at one end and capable of being passed through the locking head at its other end; the shaft having a plurality of a first locking element located along at least a portion of its length; the locking head having an internal bore defined by an encircling wall, the encircling wall having at least a second locking element on the encircling wall; one of the first locking element and the second locking element being a pocket having side walls for receiving the other of the first locking element and the second locking element; the other of the first locking element and the second locking element being a barb to be received by the pocket; the shaft being prevented from rotation by location of the barb in the pocket; the pocket being oriented to prevent the shaft moving through the locking head under tensional forces on the shaft when the barb is received by the pocket; and the shaft being releasable from the locking head by removing the barb from the pocket by pulling on the shaft, twisting the shaft and allowing the shaft to slide through the locking head.
 2. The tie of claim 1, wherein the barbs on the shaft are capable of being compressed by a non-engaging surface of the pockets as the barbs pass through the bore, said barbs then capable of returning to their original shape to be held securely by the pocket when the shaft is under tensional forces.
 3. The tie of claim 1, wherein the pocket is depressed towards its center, said depression having the shape of a V; and the barb is V-shaped in a corresponding manner along its bottom surface to be received by the pocket and held securely in place in a non-rotating position.
 4. The tie of claim 1, wherein the pocket is depressed towards its center, said depression having the shape of a curve; and the barb is curved in a corresponding manner along its bottom surface to be received by the pocket and held securely in place in a non-rotating position.
 5. The tie of claim 1, wherein the pocket is tapered towards its center; and the barb is tapered in a corresponding manner along its bottom surface to be received by the pocket and held securely in place in a non-rotating position.
 6. The tie of claim 1, wherein the pocket is an eye; and the barb is a hook to be received by the pocket and held securely in place in a non-rotating position.
 7. The tie of claim 1, wherein the number of pockets spaced within the circumference of the encircling wall of the bore is equal to the number of barbs spaced around the circumference of the shaft, said pockets being spaced in a complementary fashion to the barbs.
 8. The tie of claim 7, wherein the number of barbs per circumference of the shaft is 2, said barbs being evenly spaced; the number of pockets per circumference of the encircling wall of the bore is 2; and the barbs are releasable from the pockets by pulling on the shaft, rotating the shaft roughly 90°, and pulling or pushing the shaft through the bore of the locking head.
 9. The tie of claim 7, wherein the number of barbs per circumference of the shaft is 3, said barbs being evenly spaced; the number of pockets per circumference of the encircling wall of the bore is 3; and the barbs are releasable from the pockets by pulling on the shaft, rotating the shaft roughly 60°, and pulling or pushing the shaft through the bore of the locking head.
 10. The tie of claim 1, wherein the shaft comprises a handle integrated into the second end of the shaft; the handle comprising a pivot and a handle bar; and the handle capable of passing through the locking head in closed position and pivoting open to be grasped in an open position, said open position being perpendicular to the shaft, in order to manipulate the shaft within the locking head through pulling, pushing, and/or rotating the handle bar.
 11. The tie of claim 10, wherein the handle bar is capable of being left in an open position to provide a carrying means for at least one object secured by the tie.
 12. The tie of claim 1, wherein a handle bar can be attached or detached from the end of the shaft opposite the locking head in order to manipulate the shaft within the locking head through pulling, pushing, and/or rotating the handle bar, the handle bar and said end of the shaft having attaching means complementary to each other.
 13. The tie of claim 12, wherein the handle bar is capable of being left attached to provide a carrying means for at least one object secured by the tie.
 14. The tie of claim 1, wherein the exit of the locking head has a sharp cutting edge, said cutting edge capable of severing the shaft exiting from the bore of the locking head.
 15. A tie, comprising; a shaft terminating in a locking head at one end and capable of being passed through the locking head at its other end; the shaft having a plurality of a first locking element located along at least a portion of its length; the locking head having an internal bore defined by an encircling wall, the encircling wall having at least a second locking element on the encircling wall; one of the first locking element and the second locking element being a pocket having side walls for receiving the other of the first locking element and the second locking element; the other of the first locking element and the second locking element being a barb to be received by the pocket; the barb being capable of being compressed by a non-engaging surface of the pocket as the barb passes through the bore, said barb returning to its original shape once being clear of the pocket to be held securely by the pocket when the shaft is under tensional forces; the shaft being prevented from rotation by location of the barb in the pocket; the pocket being oriented to prevent the shaft moving through the locking head under tensional forces on the shaft when the barb is received by the pocket; and the shaft being releasable from the locking head by removing the barb from the pocket by pulling on the shaft, twisting the shaft and allowing the shaft to slide through the locking head.
 16. The tie of claim 15, wherein the exit of the locking head has a sharp cutting edge, said cutting edge capable of severing the shaft exiting from the bore of the locking head.
 17. A tie, comprising; a shaft terminating in a locking head at one end and comprising a handle integrated into a second end of the shaft; the handle comprising a pivot and a handlebar; the handle capable of passing through the locking head in closed position and pivoting open to be grasped in an open position, said open position being perpendicular to the shaft, in order to manipulate the shaft within the locking head through pulling, pushing, and/or rotating the handle bar; the shaft having a plurality of a first locking element located along at least a portion of its length; the locking head having an internal bore defined by an encircling wall, the encircling wall having at least a second locking element on the encircling wall; one of the first locking element and the second locking element being a pocket having side walls for receiving the other of the first locking element and the second locking element; the other of the first locking element and the second locking element being a barb to be received by the pocket; the shaft being prevented from rotation by location of the barb in the pocket; the pocket being oriented to prevent the shaft moving through the locking head under tensional forces on the shaft when the barb is received by the pocket; and the shaft being releasable from the locking head by removing the barb from the pocket by pulling on the shaft, twisting the shaft and allowing the shaft to slide through the locking head.
 18. The tie of claim 17, wherein the handle bar is capable of being left in an open position to provide a carrying means for at least one object secured by the tie.
 19. The tie of claim 1, wherein the exit of the locking head has a sharp cutting edge, said cutting edge capable of severing the shaft exiting from the bore of the locking head. 